


just ignore the smoke and smile

by brandywine421



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), Wolverine (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, M/M, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-30 00:45:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3916900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve smiles with bloody teeth when the man pulls back to take another swing.  He feels his ribs shatter under his return punch and the splatter of blood across this black Kevlar doesn't even make a stain.</p>
<p>"Let's move, we've got another cluster scrambling through the basement bunker.  Explosives in place?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, let's go," he says, pausing long enough to spit out a tooth.  Logan gives him a sharp look but he shrugs.  "They grow back."</p>
<p>"I forgot how much of a fucker you are," Logan snorts.</p>
<p>"Yep," Steve grins.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <em>(The one where Steve goes on sabbatical and doesn't understand the meaning of a solo mission.)</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	just ignore the smoke and smile

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be an angsty, but it turned into a big ball of fluff. And I'm okay with that. I hope the melodramatic crack is functional for a Monday smile. (Present tense, just for the fuck of it.)

 

_Threw you the obvious and you flew with it on your back,_  
_A name in your recollection, down among a million same._  
_Difficult not to feel a little bit disappointed, and passed over_  
_When I've looked right through, see you naked but oblivious._  
  
_And you don't see me_.

 

"Can you take it away?  My memories?"  
  
Wanda tilts her head at him, curious.  Maybe concerned, but mostly curious.  
  
Steve hesitates.  "Not all of them.  Just…"  
  
"The ones of the man you love.  You would forget the time you shared?" she replies.  
  
"He - he's not the same.  He doesn't remember, he'll never remember.  I can't - I don't want to keep punishing him for things he doesn't remember.  I need to look at him and see a teammate, not - "  
  
"Not your lost love.  Captain, are you absolutely sure?  You won't be able to get them back and you may regret, no, you will regret giving up your memories."  
  
Steve looks through the window where Bucky, no, James - is laughing at something Sam tells him.  James and Sam get on like gangbusters.  Like Steve and Bucky used to get along.  "I regret remembering them more.  I have too many expectations, too much hope for the impossible to ever treat him the way he deserves.  He has a chance to have a life now and that's all I wanted.  But I want so much more and that's not fair to him."  
  
Her hand's too small and too soft on his shoulder.  "What about you?  There is little fairness in this world.  You are strong, are you not strong enough to carry the memories for you both?"  
  
He knows then that she's not going to help him.  Not this way.  Not when she is still suffering, still mourning, for her brother.  Her brother who doesn't get a second chance at life.  "You're right.  I'm sorry for bothering you, Wanda.  Thank you for talking with me.  Sometimes I need some perspective, too."  
  
She's frowning when he turns back to her.  "You are lying."  
  
He forces a smile, his showgirl smile, and sees the moment she accepts it.  He kisses her cheek.  "I mean it.  Thanks."

* * *

  
  
_"Hey."_  
  
_"Didn't think I'd be hearing from you for a while, Cap.  How's your boy?"_  
  
_"Not mine.  He doesn't have his memories, probably never will.  You know what that's like, don't you?"_  
  
_"Damn."_  
  
_"Bucky's dead.  James is doing really well."_  
  
_"But you're not."_  
  
_"No.  I'm not.  I wondered if your offer was still open."_  
  
_"You sure about that?"_  
  
_"Positive.  Let's burn some bridges."_  
  
_"You going to hang up your suit?"_  
  
_"Might burn that, too."_  
  
_"Give me a couple of days and get your shit together.  We'll meet in the middle.  Like old times."_  
  
_"But with new toys."_

* * *

  
  
"Rhodes.  You got a minute?" Cap waves him over from his supervision of today's recruits failing on the obstacle course.  
  
"Sure thing, what's on your mind?" Rhodey likes Cap, trusts him to lead a team.  He trusts him to listen and actually take his teammates' advice.  He can't say the same for his best friend, no matter how much he loves the guy.  
  
"I'm going to take off for a while.  Things have settled down around here and since you're sticking around, it seems like a good time.  Do you mind keeping things running?"  
  
That's not what Rhodey expected.  "Where are you going?  Everyone you know is here."  He regrets his words immediately but Cap doesn't seem to notice, or at least he hides it well.  
  
"I have some things to take care of.  Sam's got his hands full working with Barnes, Nat's working with Hill and Fury, even if she won't admit it and Wanda's been consulting with that Dr. Strange guy.  You're my point man, if you're willing."  
  
"And if I'm not?" Rhodes replies.  He has a bad feeling about this.  
  
Steve shrugs.  "I'll tag someone else."  
  
"You're serious.  You're going to walk away from the Avengers now?  After everything?"  
  
Steve snorts.  He turns and walks away without another word.  
  
Well, fuck.

* * *

  
  
"What the hell did you say to him?" Sam hisses at Rhodes as they stood in Cap's room.  
  
"I didn't think he would - " Rhodes whispers.  
  
"Fuck, fuck, I need to call Natasha stat," Sam says, pulling out his phone.  
  
"No need.  I'm back.  You boys think you can follow my orders?  Because if you can't, you can ride the bench with the rest," she says flatly.  
  
"What the hell is going on, Natasha?" Sam demands.  
  
"Some people around here seem to forget that Captain America is still a man under the suit.  Will you follow me instead?" she asks.  
  
"Fuck.  I messed up," Rhodes sighs.  
  
"Nobody messed up.  Sometimes things are just messy," she replies, glancing over to where Barnes is flirting with Wanda.  
  
"Oh.  Seems like I messed up," Sam realizes.  
  
Natasha glances at him.  "Cap will be back.  He made me a promise."  
  
"You sure he's not going somewhere to eat a bullet?" Rhodes counters, ignoring Sam's sharp glare.  
  
"He made me a promise," Natasha repeats.

* * *

  
  
Steve smiles with bloody teeth when the man pulls back to take another swing.  He feels his ribs shatter under his return punch and the splatter of blood across this black Kevlar doesn't even make a stain.  
  
"Let's move, we've got another cluster scrambling through the basement bunker.  Explosives in place?"  
  
"Yeah, let's go," he says, pausing long enough to spit out a tooth.  Logan gives him a sharp look but he shrugs.  "They grow back."  
  
"I forgot how much of a fucker you are," Logan snorts.  
  
"Yep," Steve grins.

* * *

  
  
"Uh, any reason you guys aren't helping Captain Rogers raise hell in Panama right now?" James asks, walking into the daily Avengers mope session in the commons room.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sam yawns, the circles under his eyes more pronounced by the day.  
  
James notes how all three turn their attention to the shield leaning against the empty seat.  "Rogers, he's on the news.  They blew out another weapons lab in Panama last night."  
  
Rhodes scrambles for the remote to flip on the large screen but the news channels are all talking about another faceless celebutante not wearing enough clothes.  
  
"Why do you think you saw Rogers?" Natasha asks in her careful way.  
  
"I taught him how to throw that left hook.  You really didn't know?  He's with the other James."  He makes the sign of the claw with his hands.  "You know.  Hairy James that growls a lot and won't hesitate to slash you if you look at his food?"  
  
"Barnes, I thought you didn't remember," Rhodes asks.  He's not careful.  He's angry.  
  
"I remember, it was just a long time ago.  I haven't connected up the feelings to the filmstrips, if that makes sense.  Which I'm guessing it doesn't considering the way you're all looking at me," James answers.  
  
"We see you every day, we live with you and you didn't think we'd want to know that?" Sam whispers.  
  
James hesitates.  These people are his friends.  "I want to make it work before I talk about it.  It doesn't work yet.  It probably won't ever work.  But I remember, sure, and that's Rogers and James in Panama.  They always worked well together."  
  
Rhodes has his hand curled in an awkward claw shape and his eyes light up suddenly.  " _Wolverine_.  It's gotta be, do we have any contacts with the X-Men?"  
  
"Wanda talks to the wheelchair guy all the time," James offers.  
  
"Dude, we live with you, what the hell?" Sam groans, scrubbing a hand across his face.

* * *

  
  
Pepper opens the door and lets go of the yell she'd been building in her mind.  "Steve?"  
  
He gives her a crooked smile.  "Hey.  You got a few minutes for an old friend?"  
  
"Where the hell have you been?  Who's that - Logan?  What the hell, Steve?" Pepper hisses, yanking him inside and glaring at the Wolverine until he followed them and closed the door.  
  
"Been working on some private business.  Tony's not home, is he?  I don't really want him to overhear," Steve says, returning her embrace.  
  
"He's in LA for the night, but I don't like keeping secrets without good cause," she replies, not sure where this visit is headed.  Cap went quiet weeks ago and even if Tony hasn't admitted it out loud, Tony's worried he ruined their friendship for good.  She's worried, too.  
  
"It's up to you if you tell him after, but Cap here thinks you should see it first," Logan says.  "You got any booze around?"  
  
She waves him over to the bar and turns to Steve.  "Are you all right?  Is he holding you against your will?"  
  
"No, this was actually my idea.  We're doing some...solo work.  Together.  I'll never trust SHIELD and not much of this century's government has impressed me so, yeah.  We're cleaning up.  We found some things.  Stark Tech, from Howard and Tony.  What do you know about A.I.M.?" Steve asks.  
  
She loses her breath.  Fuck.  "I thought...hell, are they another head of HYDRA?"  **No**.  Extremis was enough.  
  
"Maybe.  They have a lot of Tony's designs.  You know how he gets, Pepper, so I'm bringing this to you," Steve says, holding her eyes.  Searching.  
  
"We're running out of plain HYDRA places to blow up," Logan chimes in, bringing over three glasses of scotch.    
  
She takes the folder and only has to flip through three pages before she accepts the glass and downs it in a single gulp.  
  
She won't let Tony go this route again.  He's come too far, he's broken too much, he's lost enough of himself in this fight.  She can't let him find out about this.  
  
"Pepper?" Steve's voice breaks through her thoughts but she's already made up her mind.  
  
"Tony can never know.  I want in on the big ones.  I don't want A.I.M. to have anything with a Stark's name on it," she says.  
  
Logan and Steve glance at each other.  
  
She pulls the thread and brings Extremis to her eyes.  Logan slowly smiles.  "You got any training?"  
  
"Other than boxing?" Steve adds.  
  
"Maria Hill and I spar a few times a week and I got a lot of practice blasting Tony's prototype suits out of the sky," she replies, failing not to smirk.  
  
"Can you even go off the radar long enough to join us?" Steve asks.  
  
"You underestimate how many people work for me," Pepper replies.

* * *

  
  
"Stark doesn't deserve you," Logan whistles when Pepper climbs onto the back of Steve's bike in skin-tight Kevlar that fits her better than the Widow.  That's saying a lot.  
  
"I've heard that before," Pepper smiles.  "Do I get a helmet?"  
  
"I'll try to take it easy for you as long as you remember not to blast the building before we set the charges.  Logan's point, you're his backup and I'm going to be on your six the whole time."  
  
She rolls her eyes.  "I remember, Cap.  I've been running the plan through my head for days.  This is my first official mission and I'm not going to let Tony look better than me in the field."  
  
"Honey, I doubt anyone's looking at Tony when you're around," Logan says, starting his bike and leaving them in his dust.  
  
She winds her arms around him tightly and he feels her superheated energy through the Kevlar.  "I will lose all respect for you if he beats us to the base, Captain."  
  
"Not a Captain tonight," he replies, revving up the engine and peeling out.

* * *

  
  
Sam tears his eyes away from the surveillance video of the latest surprise attack and destruction of a lab in Madrid this time.  
  
"James, are you well?" Wanda asks, having heard the man's gasp, too.  
  
Barnes' skin has gone bone white and his pupils are completely dilated.  
  
Sam glances at the screens again but he still only processes the fire and smoke and hoots of success from the new vigilante, a glowing woman in black.  
  
"James?" Wanda repeats.  
  
Barnes approaches the screen and puts his metal finger over the silhouette of the two men.  
  
"You see something we can use?" Sam asks carefully.  
  
"Steve.  He'd never leave me for that asshole," James whispers.  His eyes flash.  "Why is he even with that asshole?  Howlett's batshit, bastard's been crazier longer than me - and - he better not touch my Stevie."  
  
Sam gives Wanda a betrayed look but she's as startled as he is.  "Finally get those pictures to match up, James?"  
  
Barnes curls his metal hand into a fist.  "My name's Bucky."  
  
"Oh yeah?" Sam replies.  
  
"Yeah.  I think.  Yeah.  I might not like it, but I can't - I won't let James Howlett take my bae."  
  
Wanda laughs brightly and claps.  "I know what that means!  That is - what's the word - adorable, yes.  _Bae_."  
  
"Bucky.  Nobody really says 'bae'," Sam says.  "Wait, does he know that?"  
  
"Perhaps this is to make you jealous," Wanda offers.  
  
James, no Bucky, grumbles but it lacks the venom of The Winter Soldier and the indifference of James - it's a new sound.  "Stevie doesn't know when people are flirting with him.  But I warned that furry bastard before."  
  
"Maybe you should phone him.  Let him know of your health," Wanda says.  
  
Sam sighs.  "We don't exactly have his number or else we would have tried that by now."  
  
She tilts her head, thoughtful.  
  
"Wanda, did you talk to Cap before he left?" Natasha steps out of the shadows with her natural static expression.  Sam knows her well enough to see she's shocked.  
  
"No.  He calls me," she replies simply.  
  
"What?  I mean, yeah, what?" Sam sputters.  
  
Wanda shrugs, her eyes drifting to the window where the outside lights are clicking on for nightfall.  "We miss our brothers.  He tells me all the stories that he doesn't want to remember.  And I tell him tales of Pietro that I don't ever want forgotten.  We cannot let go without holding on."  She turns back and pins Bucky with her gaze.  "I remember you for him and he carries Pietro for me.  He is my friend but I approve of him as your bae."  
  
"What's a 'bae'?" Natasha demands.  
  
"He doesn't want to remember me?  What does that mean?" James asks in a pained whisper.  
  
"Steve would do anything for you.  You are his biggest weakness but he is your biggest regret, at least that is his fear.  He wishes for your freedom no matter the cost to his soul."  
  
"We are the worst people for this job," Sam groans.  "I need a drink."

* * *

  
  
"Seriously, guys?  Seriously?" Clint folds his page down in the magazine and meets Steve's guilty and surprised eyes.  
  
"We're on vacation," Steve replies after a long moment.  
  
Clint rolls his eyes but he narrows them when the Wolverine walks in.  "Oh, hell no."  
  
Logan flips him off.  "Nice to see you, too, Hawkeye.  How's retirement?"  
  
"Not as entertaining as your vacation, obviously," he snorts, turning his attention back to Cap.  "Man, how the hell are you keeping off the radar with explosions like that?  This one tripped radiation detectors for twenty miles.  I didn't take you for a guy to use nukes."  
  
Steve and Logan glance at each other.  They didn't seem to know that tidbit.  
  
"That's what I thought.  You want to know what Maria thinks?  She swears your new addition is using her patented drop-kick.  Tony's going to kill you, why the fuck would you bring her into this?"  
  
"Maria knows?  Who else?" Steve winces.  
  
"Barnes figured it out a few weeks ago but the rest of your guys only started believing it a few days ago.  Maria's the only one that's dropped Potts' name and only to me.  Everyone's going to kick your ass for that," Clint sighs.  
  
"She kicked ass, though," Steve mutters.  
  
"Yeah she did," Logan grins.  
  
"Coulson's been taking responsibility for your messier missions and Fury's been covering up the rest.  Pretty sure they haven't figured it out who you're working with.  Xavier know where you are?" Clint asks Logan.  
  
He shrugs.  "Probably.  We busted some mutants out of the second HYDRA base and sent them his way and he's got Cerebro so he could get me if he needs me."  
  
Pepper chooses that point to arrive with several large bags of take out.  Clint doesn't recognize her with the dark wig and skintight jeans and jacket.  She blanches when she sees him.  "Oh."  
  
"Yeah.  How they drag you into this, Pepper?  Tony's going to kill you."  
  
"Please don't tell him until we're done," she blurts out.  "It's A.I.M., Barton, he'll kill himself trying to take them down and I can't handle that again.  Steve brought the intel to me to decide.  If I have Extremis, at least this way I can get something good out of it.  Please don't tell him yet."  
  
That's not what he expected to hear.  He hasn't even considered that Pepper was in on this because of that.  "You're trying to protect Tony?"  
  
"From himself.  Ultron - that can't happen again.  He's back on clean energy, medical tech, things that don't end in world catastrophes.  You know him, Clint, you know how he'll react.  If I've learned one thing from Tony after all this time, it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."  
  
Clint sighs.  "What a mess."  
  
"You want in?" Steve asks after a long moment.  
  
"Yeah, but I can't right now.  Soccer season," Clint replies.  "Coulson doesn't know who your guys are but he knows I know and he trusts if I say you're on the level - he has an interested party."  
  
"You can't really count that well if this was supposed to be solo," Logan says to Cap.  
  
"This is not my fault," Cap replies.  
  
Pepper rolls her eyes.  "Boys," she scolds and addresses Clint.  "I don't think we want SHIELD linked to us in any way."  
  
"She's not SHIELD, she's Asgardian.  HYDRA's got a lot of alien tech and every piece SHIELD's got its hands on so far, well, it hasn't ended well.  She can't hang out with Thor because, well, she hates Jane and with politics the way they are; Phil thinks they want to lock her up and he doesn't have much leverage left to protect her much longer.  She can't leave Earth until she finds the artifacts and she wears her armor all the time and seriously can't be out in the public unattended.  If you're underground already and you can give her a steady line of people to beat up - it would help him out.  But you can't tell Thor."  
  
"We haven't been doing that well at staying underground if you're here," Steve says.  
  
"Fury doesn't know who you are, Maria's still on the fence.  It's the Avengers you have to worry about tracking you down and making you stop.  The rest of us are just making lists of places you need to blow up next," Clint replies.  
  
Logan pokes Steve hard in the shoulder.  "Seriously, you're incapable of working without a team."  
  
"We were going to have to call in Thor anyway when we start to sort the bunker," Steve snaps, poking him back.  
  
"What bunker?" Clint and Pepper ask.  
  
"I need a drink," Logan groans.  
  
Cap leaned back in his chair.  "We found a bunch of stuff.  Eventually, meaning not until we're done, but _eventually_ , we're going to need to get it back in the right hands."  
  
"Vibranium's gotta go back to Wakanda," Logan picks up.  "Stark tech goes back to Stark, all the shit we found on the Hulk's gotta go back to Banner, mutant-related goes to Hank and on from there."  
  
"Are. You. Serious."  Clint blinks at him.  "Please don't tell me you have all that in one place."  
  
"Storm's helping with the containment," Steve says quietly.  
  
"You're talking about Johnny, are you?"  Pepper shudders.  
  
Steve wrinkles his forehead.  "I'm not that clueless.  Susan."  
  
"She's like you, she could do so much better if she ditched her egghead," Logan nods.  
  
Cap's eyes go distance.  "She's great."  
  
"He's got a crush," Logan snickers.  
  
"I'm not sure about bringing anyone else in until we finish with A.I.M.  But - I owe Coulson a favor and if you think Thor won't bring down the Hammer on my face later, we can talk to her," Steve concedes, glaring at Logan.  
  
"And the bunker?" Pepper asks.  
  
"We're not opening that until we can bring in Tony and the rest for the sorting," Cap says.  "Sue hasn't even taken Reed's stolen research from the vaults yet."  
  
"I'm not mentioning that revelation to anyone, that's a powder keg," Clint sighs.  
  
"Well we have a match right here if it comes to that," Steve says.  
  
Pepper actually preens.

* * *

  
  
"One, two more months, tops.  Maybe three but probably two."  
  
Natasha walks out of the room with the phone.  "Cap.  What the fuck."  
  
"I need to do this, Nat."  
  
She shakes her head even though she's on the phone.  "Bucky's back, not James or the Soldier but _Bucky_.  He says you're his bae."  
  
"I don't even know what that means.  Did he suddenly get his memories back when I left?  This isn't a soap opera."  
  
She snorts.  "Not when you left, but when he saw Wolverine standing too close to you in that last op, apparently his jealousy won out.  He'd really like to see you.  He'd also like to pass along the message that if he touches you, he'll kill him."  
  
Steve is silent a long time but she can hear his mind clicking in his hushed breaths.  "I can't think about that yet.  He's alive and safe and healthy.  I'll be back when I'm finished."  
  
"You know it's never going to be finished," Natasha states.  
  
Steve sighs.  "I know.  But if we keep hitting them hard, we'll at least disarm some more of them.  Enough hits might make them crack.  Maybe enough to get a head start on what they're going to hit back with."  
  
Natasha doesn't like it.  But she understands.  "Will you touch base with one of us that's not a spacy brain witch?"  
  
"Wanda knows how to reach me for emergencies and we have extraction plans in place if we need to get back.  Can you guys back off long enough for us to make more of a dent?"  
  
"Thirty-seven bases in 5 weeks, Cap, that's a pretty big dent."  
  
"Wait until you see the next one."  He's smiling.  Fuck.  
  
"You need more backup than Wolverine, Cap," she adds, resigned.  
  
"Like I said.  Wait until you see the next one.  I'll never figure out why the military waited so long to let women into combat.  Girl power, Nat."

* * *

  
  
Lady Sif slashes at one of the mutated dog-monsters with a pleased chuckle.  
  
"You seem pretty sword-happy over there," Logan grunts as he slashes one too close to his bag of bombs.  
  
"It is invigorating to engage in a hearty battle," she replies, majestic with the splash of blood as she flips backwards to take out three in one swing.  
  
Sif's a very interesting woman.  Gorgeous, tougher than nails and a beast in combat.  They could have raised some hell.  
  
"Logan, get to work, you can flirt with her after we're clear," Cap mutters in his ear.  
  
He snorts and turns his attention back to the console and unplugs the drive with tonight's data.  
  
"The Captain is right, but I suggest we avoid the silly Midgardian practice of flirting.  You seem like you would be more suited for mating than conversation," Sif says without missing a step in her dance with the last of the creatures.  
  
Steve barks out a laugh and he hears Pepper's muted snicker.  
  
"Moving to section five," Logan says, winking at Sif so he doesn't give Cap any more ammunition or chance to cockblock tonight.

* * *

  
  
Bucky steps into the lounge, determined.  This has to end.  "I need Steve to come home now."  
  
"Uh, I thought he had a deal?" Rhodes replies, glancing up from the assorted briefings from the Avengers' contacts watching for 'Earth Threats'.  
  
Bucky shakes his head.  "I need to talk to him.  I haven't talked to him since I got myself back and I want more than a fucking phone call.  He hasn't even called."  Steve would call if he knew Bucky was back, if he believed it.  
  
"Have you called him?  He would probably answer."  
  
Bucky shakes his head again.  "I want him here.  I need to see him.  Tell him it's time to come home."  
  
Rhodey holds out his phone.  "I haven't used the number because Natasha's serious about leaving him alone, but it sounds like you need to talk to him."  
  
He doesn't want to talk to him on the phone.  
  
"Suck it up and stop pouting.  If you want him to come home that badly, you should explain it to him," Rhodes says  
  
He takes the phone and scrolls through the contacts until he finds 'buckys bae'.  He pauses to glare at Rhodes but touches the call icon.  
  
It takes three rings too long before Steve's voice picks up.  "Rhodey?"  
  
"No.  You got a minute for me?" Bucky asks.  Steve pauses.  He doesn't hesitate, but he pauses.  Bucky can't believe he forgot Steve.  "Stop thinking, Stevie.  It's time to come home."  
  
"I started something and I need to finish it.  If you were Bucky, you'd understand that."  
  
"No - if I were James, I'd understand but I remember now and Bucky, **me** , you fucker, would never let you raise so much hell without me on your six or tying you down to my bed."  
  
"We broke that bed," Steve hums thoughtfully.  
  
"I - I need you to come home, Stevie.  I need you.  _Here_."  
  
He waits.  He's unhappy but he waits for Steve to pause and think.  _Fucker_.  
  
"It's going to be a clusterfuck.  Big.  I need a couple of days."  
  
"You have twenty-nine hours."  
  
"Your math is wrong.  Seventy-two hours, Buck.  Can you last that long?"  
  
"Are you sharing a tent with James?" Bucky asks.  
  
Steve laughs.  He hasn't heard that in - decades.  Goddamn.  "He's otherwise engaged.  I need to talk to Rhodey if this is going down so soon.  Logan has to call his guys and - "  
  
"I'll kill him if - "  
  
"I don't know if I fully believe you yet so please don't threaten my friends.  Do you remember when you and Dernier disappeared to save those ladies in Paris?"  
  
Bucky closes his eyes.  "Yeah.  Portia and Elena."  
  
"I trusted you then.  Trust me now.  We haven't found many hostages, but we've found enough.  Kids.  We've destroyed six chairs."  
  
He shudders.  "Fuck, Stevie."  
  
"I'll see you in a few days.  Let me talk to Rhodey."  
  
He passes the phone to Rhodes who has been failing miserably to pretend like he's not listening.  
  
Fuck.  He's going to kill Steve.

* * *

  
  
"Oh.  Hi."  
  
Steve lowers his guns when he recognizes Bruce Banner hanging out in the giant metal box.  "Hey.  Is this where you decided to take your sabbatical?"  
  
Banner scans him with his eyes.  "Is this how you decided to take yours?"  
  
Pepper and Sif let out hoots of victory from the stairwell and Steve shrugs.  "Long story.  Your ready to get out of here?"  
  
"Yeah, but there's someone else you should probably release at the end of the aisle.  Hulk took him, I think, but we got caught before I could send him back," Banner says.  
  
"I'll trust you on that.  And - hell, if you want to run off after we blow the base, I won't tell anyone I saw you," Steve says.  "But it's _really_ good to see you."  
  
"We'll talk after I'm out.  The whole team here?" Bruce asks, moving to the exit hatch as Steve smashes the control panel and the locks slide open.  
  
"That's a long story, too.  This is our last hit before we face the music.  It's going to be a mess when we head back," Steve says.  
  
Bruce snorts.  "Go get the kid and show us the way out."  
  
"Kid?  Shit."  Steve sees Pietro fucking Maximoff wavering in the doorway of a nearby cell.  There's a metal collar around his neck and his eyes are glazed and unfocused.  "Is the collar doing that to him?"  
  
Bruce raises his wrist with a matching collar.  "Yeah.  It's some kind of alien tech."  
  
"Then we're lucky we have an alien upstairs.  Come on, kid.  I know someone that's going to be really glad to see you."  He pushes the comm button and speaks to his team.  "Two civilians, bringing them up now.  They're friendlies."  
  
"Mutant?" Logan asks.  
  
"Nah, they're ours.  Mine.  Let's move, people," Steve says.  
  
"We're clear, Wolverine, you need backup?" Pepper asks.  
  
"I'll be clear in five, head out and get ready to blow it."  
  
Steve takes a chance and throws the dazed kid over his shoulder and pulls his guns, holding one out to Banner.  "No arguments, watch my back.  We don't need Hulk for these ops but we need as many eyes as we can get."  
  
Bruce takes the gun and falls into step behind him.  
  
"Where's your shield?" Bruce asks as they steps out into the singed and smoking exterior.  
  
"Don't need that for these ops, either."  He clicks his comm again.  "Five minutes until extraction, are we in position?"  
  
A jet materializes in the clearing and Sue Storm smiles at him and lowers her invisibility shield.  "How's this?"  
  
"Impressive as always, Sue," Steve says and lowers Pietro to the ground.  "Is the conference in order?"  
  
"You mean the Domestic Dispute of Doom?  Yeah.  Reed's sniffing around and Stark's on Pepper's trail because she missed a couple of calls from him.  They both think we're cheating," Sue says.  Her eyes widen.  "Dr. Banner?"  
  
Pepper and Sif stagger out of the base, breathless and Bruce turns to Steve.  "You - _that's_ \- they're going to kill you."  
  
"Yeah, that's the consensus," Steve smiles.  "But with Pietro and you, even if you run - you're alive and that makes all of this worth something."  
  
"We just have to hope it's enough to keep Cap alive after Tony finds out," Pepper adds, giving Bruce a welcome hug.

* * *

  
  
Tony narrows his eyes when Rhodey finishes talking.  "So Cap's been AWOL for months and nobody thought I'd want to know that?  With Bruce and Barton both off the roster, you just conveniently forgot to mention that Captain America is on the run, too?  Why isn't he here helping with the ball of rage emo over there?"  
  
Bucky flips him the finger without looking up from the board where Wanda is thoroughly kicking his ass at Monopoly.  
  
"He didn't leave a lot of details.  Barnes figured out he was the one blowing up the HYDRA bases.  And then the A.I.M. bases," Rhodey says.  
  
Tony spins back to face him.  "What?"  Not A.I.M.  He'd taken care of them with the Mandarin.  
  
With Pepper disappearing for days at a time and now finding out Steve's been running illegal vengeance ops off the grid for weeks - he is not happy.  
  
Rhodey sighs and motions for him to sit down.  "We're expecting a few more people but hopefully Cap will get here before they do.  Apparently he's got a lot to answer for."  
  
The door opens and Tony's surprised to see Thor walk in with Hank McCoy and Reed Fucking Richards on his heels.  
  
"Oh.  I guess we are making this a party," Rhodey mutters, tapping on his phone.  "Cap didn't mention we were having a convention."  
  
"Nick Fury's yelling at people on the yard.  Pretty sure he's supposed to be dead," McCoy adds.  
  
"Jesus Christ," Tony mutters.  
  
Wanda's head snaps up suddenly.  "They're here."  
  
Tony ignores the rest of them and makes his way outside.  He hears the muted sound of a jet but doesn't see it until its putting down on the grass and dropping the invisibility cloak.  It doesn't look like his tech, but it should be.  
  
Sam and Natasha join him but he's still pissed at being left out of whatever the hell is going on.  He doesn't know enough to yell at anyone other than Cap but he's keeping track, oh yeah.  
  
Steve steps out of the lowering ramp with both hands held up in a peace-keeping stance.  He has soot smeared on his face and his hoodie is slightly singed but he seems intact.  "Before anyone overreacts - "  
  
"Oh, you have no idea," Barnes hisses.  
  
Steve holds up his hand.  "I'm going to explain.  As a sign of good faith, or _sucking up_ as they call it now - let me show you what we got out of all this.  Wanda?"  
  
She appears from behind Barnes with wide, almost hopeful eyes.  
  
"We found him in the last raid.  Banner, too," Steve adds, meeting Natasha's eyes.  
  
Tony's not sure if he's prepared for what Bruce needs to say to him but the man is fully focused on Natasha even though she doesn't spare him a look when Pietro limps down the ramp.  
  
Wanda rushes him like she's the one with superspeed and, okay, Tony's not that much of an asshole; but one happy ending doesn't negate Cap's level of punk at the moment.  
  
"That turned out to be Department X.  I asked Logan to help me at the beginning but we started finding things that belonged to our friends, too many to overlook," Steve begins again.  "Our personal motivations aside - "  
  
"He means as much as we wanted to blast the fucking places out of existence, we want our friends to have their shit back and figure out how the bad guys have so much of their shit," Wolverine finishes, walking out with Pepper holding one elbow and a brunette with curves and enough skin showing that should be making more of an impact on him.  
  
Pepper.  
  
"Pepper.  You - Cap - " Tony can't breathe enough to get the words out.  
  
Her arms are warm, too warm, when she embraces him.  "He brought it to me, A.I.M., the weapons and plans, he brought it to me.  It was my decision - I love you, Tony, I had to do it.  I needed to protect you, too."  
  
"Pepper?  Are you saying - you did this on your own?"  
  
She wipes her eyes.  "I wouldn't let him bring it to you.  I won't let you go back to before.  I can't - I love you.  I asked him to take me."  
  
"They have research, prototypes - alien weapons - from all of you," Cap is saying.  "Thor, the Lady Sif is searching for artifacts we had already found and locked up.  Reed, I took your tech to Sue to look over and she offered her help.  Hank, Logan's got a ton of research for you and I need Nick to help me get in touch with Wakanda to return some relics."  
  
Tony turns his full attention to Steve, too full of conflicting emotions to deal with Pepper at the moment.  
  
"I started this because I wanted to blow stuff up and it turned into a gruesome treasure hunt," Steve says.  
  
Sif is legitimately bowing to Thor, Pietro clings to Wanda, McCoy smacks Logan with a huge paw, Natasha and Bruce stare at each other pining like Christmas and Susan and Reed are, of course, speaking calmly.  
  
Barnes stalks over to Steve and punches him in the face, dropping the man like a stone.  
  
"Now we can talk," Tony says, turning Pepper toward the building.

* * *

  
  
"I'm sorry for driving you away."  
  
Steve raises his hand to check his swollen cheek.  "What about punching me in the face?"  
  
"I'm not sorry about that.  Well, I'm sorry for doing it in front of the girl.  Wanda's your biggest fan now.  She still hates America, but she adores you," Bucky says.  He's sitting cross-legged beside him on the massive bed in Steve's suite.  Steve's left arm is locked to the headboard.  He sighs.  
  
"I was trying to get my head together, I didn't mean to send you on a blind rampage," Bucky continues.  "That's my gig, you know?  Not yours.  I'm just getting the hang of being a functional human being and then I see you onscreen dodging bullets and wrestling monsters with your bare hands."  
  
Steve recognizes Bucky, his friend, and the rest - he actually recognizes his eyes.  Not James, not the mindless assassin but _Bucky_.  
  
"It's like I made you go dark side.  I got enough kills on my conscience without losing you, too."  
  
Steve shakes his head.  "I didn't go dark, I took a time out.  You got better when I was gone and I did, too."  
  
Bucky's face twists.  "Shut up.  I didn't get better _because_ you were gone, Stevie - "  
  
"You did," Steve insists.  "I was hovering, I won't deny it, I wanted you back so desperately that I didn't give you the space you needed.  I couldn't breathe, Bucky.  If you needed to forget - "  
  
"Wanda said you asked her to mind-wipe you.  That wasn't really good for my self esteem, pal.  I'm working my ass off to get the bad out of my head and you want her to wipe all the good out of yours.  What would you do if I got my memory back after you wiped me out of your head?" Bucky demands.  "You pulled me out of hell, Stevie, but you gave up on me when you asked her for that."  
  
"No, Buck, I just thought - "  
  
Bucky scoffs.  "That I'd be better off without you.  Fuck you, Stevie."  
  
He leans back against the bed to try and gather his words and hopes he doesn't look completely defeated.  "I wasn't helping here.  I was angry, frustrated.  Helpless.  You needed space and I needed to give it to you.  Logan - "  
  
Bucky crosses his arms with an angry whir.  
  
"He's my friend and he's a good listener if he has enough beer in him.  He's been bugging me for a roadtrip since I woke up from the ice and I finally took him up on it.  Ultron - then you - I needed time to get my head together without the future and the past twisting around.  Logan and I, we heal, and we had a lot of places to hit that we would never ask our own teams to go after.  I won't take it back," Steve says.  "We can find out what was done to you; we can know what they know about us.  Maybe I can help you now that I found more clues.  Killed more of the people that want you on their side.  I want you on my side.  By my side."  
  
"Then you should have fucking waited until I had my mind back before running off to fight my battles.  I - I needed you here.  I need you here now."  
  
"I am here now."  Steve holds his breath.  "If you're really - **you** \- then I'm here as long as you'll have me."  
  
"Oh fuck off, Stevie," Bucky groans, scrubbing his hand across his face.  
  
The door opens and there's a burst of yelling before it snaps closed again behind Wanda.  "Steve?"  
  
"Hey.  You okay?" he asks.  She's just a girl and he's been trying to wrap his head around her powers and her stilted wisdom as well as her age and her loss.  
  
She smiles and it's a balm over the tension bubbling through him.  "Pietro is sleeping.  Everyone else is arguing but they are calm enough to agree that they need to talk to you."  She hesitates, glancing between them and focusing on the handcuffs.  
  
"It's an inside joke," Bucky says.  
  
She huffs and flicks her wrist, snapping the metal with a flare of red in her eyes.  "He is under my protection.  Thor and Richards are understanding of their partners' participation.  Stark has little faith in his girlfriend's strength but she supports you.  Sam and Natasha are worried that you are insane and they like you better than James and want to talk to you."  
  
"It's Bucky now.  And that's not very nice," Bucky mutters.  
  
"Anyway.  Can your bae come out and play now?" Wanda asks seriously.  
  
"Did you really call me your 'bae'?" Steve asks, swinging his legs off the bed, but genuinely curious.  
  
"We'll talk about it when I find better handcuffs," Bucky sighs.

**Author's Note:**

> Title & intro belongs to 'A Perfect Circle'.


End file.
